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The Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize

Information
Closing date: 
16 April 2023
Entry: 
Open to all writers over 18 with an unpublished short story in English of up to 2,000 words
Prize: 
Winner will receive €1500 and many other prizes, 2 runners-up €750 and other prizes

The Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize has opened submissions for its sixth year, along with announcing the panel of authors judging the 2023 prize. It asks for innovative and 'boundary-pushing' short fiction under 2,000 words.

This year's judges are bestselling author Ottessa Moshfegh, Indonesian-English translator and author Tiffany Tsao and Argentinian novelist and short story writer Mariana Enríquez. This year the prize will partner with over a dozen literary organisations, including writers' residences, bookshops, literary journals, a literary agent, and The Literary Consultancy.

The winner will receive €1500; a seven-day stay at the Civitella Ranieri artist's residency in Umbria, Italy; a consultation with Charlotte Seymour of Johnson & Alcock

Literary and commercial fiction, children's fiction; general non-fiction including current affairs, biography and memoirs, history, lifestyle, health and personal development; film and music, graphic novels.

Children's fiction and non-fiction; ages 9-12, teenage fiction, young adult, series fiction.

Also accept adult fiction and non-fiction.

No short stories, poetry or picturebooks.

If you would like the agency to consider representing you for your work, contact them in the first instance by post at the address above. There is no need to phone the office in advance. Please note they do not accept or respond to email submissions.

For works of fiction they ask for a synopsis and three chapters, or approximately the first 50 pages of the novel. For non-fiction please supply a full outline and chapter breakdown along with at least 30 pages of the text. All submissions should be double spaced and on A4 paper.

Remember to include a covering letter with your biographical details and relevant experience, and a stamped addressed envelope either for the return of the manuscript or for a reply.

; a manuscript assessment service of up to 60,000 words through The Literary Consultancy; and a one-to-one editorial consultancy session with one of TLC's editors.

The winner and the rest of the shortlist will be published in a limited edition offset-print book published by Desperate Literature, have their work put forward for publication to the prize's partner journals, and be invited to read at events in Madrid and London in late 2023. Two runners-up will receive €750, and a consultation meeting with Seymour.

Finally, an additional shortlisted writer will be offered a spot at the Tbilisi International Festival of Literature, along with a seven-day residency at the Writers' House of Georgia. A travel stipend of €400 will be provided.

There are 40 fully sponsored entries and 60 reduced-fee entries, available to underrepresented writers or writers suffering from financial hardship. Enter by 1 April if you are applying for a sponsored place.

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The Rubery Prize 2023

Information
Closing date: 
31 March 2023
Entry: 
Open to all writers internationally who have published their work through a small press or self-published their work Entry fee £44
Prize: 
First Prize is £2,000 plus £200 for three category winners

The Rubery Prize is a prestigious international book award seeking the best books by indie writers, self published authors and books published by independent presses, judged by reputable judges. Creative writing is such a key part of life for those who enjoy writing yet it is increasingly difficult to become traditionally published. Through our reputation of finding quality and outstanding books we aim to bring recognition to the works that win and heighten an author's profile.

The Rubery Prize is a well-established name in the publishing world.

It is open to all writers internationally and is awarded to a book published in print or ebook form. Books published by independent presses and self published books are eligible to enter

We accept fiction (all genres), young adult, children's, biographies, non-fiction, self-help, cookery, poetry, photography etc. There are no limits on the type.

Judges

Narinder Dhami and Clare Morrall.

For more details

 

Gingko Prize for Ecopoetry 2023

Information
Closing date: 
25 March 2023
Entry: 
Open to all poets from across the world over the age of 18. Entry fee: first submission £7 then £4 for each additional poem
Prize: 
First prize £5,000, second prize £2,000 and third prize £1,000

The Ginkgo Prize for Ecopoetry is a major international award for poems embracing ecological themes.

The first prize is £5,000, second prize is £2,000 and third prize is £1,000, with an additional £500 prize for the ‘Best Poem of Landscape' sponsored by the AONB family.

Open to all poets of 18 and over from all over the world. Poems don't need to address a specific theme, but should in some way - thematically, structurally, linguistically or formally - investigate ecology, the environment, or the relationship between human culture and the natural world.


Our Judges

The judges are Linda Gregerson, Sean Hewitt and Karen McCarthy Woolf

The Prize aims to highlight the role poetry can play in raising awareness, gaining insight, and provoking concern for the ecological imperatives of our time.

For more details

The BBC National Short Story Award 2023

Information
Closing date: 
13 March 2023
Entry: 
British nationals and UK residents, aged 18 years or over. No entry fee
Prize: 
Winner £15,000 plus 4 shortlisted authors £600

 The BBC National Short Story Award is one of the most prestigious for a single short story, with the winning author receiving £15,000, and four further shortlisted authors £600 each.

Enter a story of no more than 8,000 words.

Reeta Chakrabarti is chair of the BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University (NSSA) judging panel, alongside bestselling novelist Jessie Burton; Booker Prize wining author Roddy Doyle; author and creative writing lecturer Okechukwu Nzelu; and returning judge Di Speirs, books editor at BBC Radio.

The stories are broadcast on Radio 4 and available to listen to on BBC Sounds, and also published in an anthology by Comma Press. The 2022 winner of the BBC National Short Story Award was Saba Sams, and previous alumni of the award include Zadie Smith, Hilary Mantel, Jon McGregor, Ingrid Persaud, Cynan Jones, Sarah Hall, Lucy Caldwell and Jo Lloyd.

This is the awards' third year in partnership with Cambridge University.

The entry deadline for the BBC National Short Story Award is 13 March.

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Primadonna Prize

Information
Closing date: 
13 March 2023
Entry: 
Unpublished authors 18 years old or over resident in the UK. Entry fee £8
Prize: 
Book contract with HQ with advance of £7,500 and agent representation

The Primadonna Prize for unsigned and un-agented authors will, for the first time, offer the winner a book contract with HQ with an advance of £7,500 for world English rights.

The winner of the competition will also work with Alice Lutyens from Curtis BrownSee Curtis Brown listing to develop their shortlisted piece into a publishable book. There is a cash prize of £100 for the runner-up, as well as a mentoring session with a member of the Primadonna team, which includes authors Kit de Waal and Catherine Mayer, agents Elise Dillsworth and Cathryn Summerhayes, and publisher Lisa Milton.

To enter the Primadonna Prize simply write 500 words of new writing (fiction) on the theme of ‘renewal' and email them, along with proof of payment of your £8 entry fee, to primadonnaprize.submissions@gmail.com.

Milton said of the prize launch: "We're incredibly proud to offer one brilliant writer the chance to go from unsigned to published through our fiction prize. Average annual earnings for UK authors are around the £6,000 mark, so the winner will already be a step ahead when they sign their contract. It's really exciting for us to enable raw talent to come through in this way: it's what Primadonna is all about."

This year's judging panel comprises Milton and Lutyens, alongside author Andi Osho, associate director of Ed Public Relations Shona Abhyankar, founder and chief executive of New Writing North Claire Malcolm MBE and writer Elissa Soave, who won the inaugural Primadonna Prize in 2019 and whose debut novel Ginger and Me was published by HQ in July 2022.

The Primadonna Prize comes from the team behind the Primadonna books festival, which will take place from 28th to 30th July 2023 at the Food Museum in Stowmarket, Suffolk.


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The Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize 2023

Information
Closing date: 
10 February 2023
Entry: 
Open to unpublished and unagented female writers, aged 21 or over, who live in the UK or Ireland. Entry fee £12
Prize: 
Winner £1,500 and guidance and support from literary agent and sponsor Peters Fraser Dunlop

The Prize is for novels by unpublished and unrepresented women writers over the age of 18 in the UK and Ireland. Now going into its thirteenth year, the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize has developed a reputation for attracting first-class writing talent. Judges are seeking entries that combine literary merit with 'unputdownability', and it has been a catalyst for numerous literary careers.

The winner of the 2023 prize will receive guidance and support from literary agent and sponsor Peters Fraser Dunlop as well as a cash prize of £1,500.

Entrants need to submit 40-50 pages of their novel and 3-5 pages of synopsis.

The 2023 judging panel welcomes back Tim Bates, Head of the Books Department and literary agent at Peters Fraser Dunlop; Dr Isobel Maddison, Fellow Emerita of Lucy Cavendish College where she was Lecturer and Director of Studies in English; Jackie Ashley, political journalist, broadcaster and Honorary Fellow of the College; Gillian Stern, editor and ghost-writer; Lindsey Traub, Fellow Emerita, and Phoebe Morgan, Harper Collins Editorial Director and author of four novels published by HQ. Joining the panel this year are Reeta Chakrabarti, BBC News presenter and correspondent, and Sheena Patel, writer and assistant director for the film and TV industry. We will be announcing a very special Chair next week.

More about the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize

Entry form

 

Carcanet open submissions window

Information
Closing date: 
20 January 2023
Entry: 
Poets with full-length poetry manuscripts in English, or translation No entry fee
Prize: 
Publication by Carcanet Press

Independent UK press Carcanet is launching an open submissions window to find new poetry talent.

Carcanet has revealed the dates of its next submission window, which will open on 2 January 2023 and close on 20 January 2023.

Carcanet editors John McAuliffe and Michael Schmidt said: "The open, free submission window is a vital resource for Carcanet: this is how we find writers whose work shapes contemporary poetry. We welcome submissions from all quarters and expect great things."

Carcanet is looking for full-length poetry manuscripts in English, or translation and, is expecting over 1,000 manuscripts to arrive during the window. Work is considered for three possible destinations: Carcanet collections, anthology series New Poetries and the journal PN Review.

Previous submission windows have resulted in some substantial finds, including Kei Miller, Sophie Hannah, Sinead Morrissey, Caroline Bird, Vahni Capildeo, Billy Letford and John Clegg.

For more details

 

The Selfies Book Awards UK 2023

Information
Closing date: 
3 January 2023
Entry: 
Authors who have self-published adult fiction, children’s books or adult memoirs/autobiography in the UK between January and December 2022. Entry fee: £35 per title to include a six-month subscription to Bookbrunch
Prize: 
£750 cash prize for each category plus other prizes

For the fifth year running the hugely popular Selfies Book Awards - powered by UK trade journal BookBrunch and sponsored by Ingram Spark® - will again reward three self-published authors for their publishing excellence. Submissions are now open for indie authors who have published an adult autobiography/memoir, adult fiction or children's book during 2022.

Supported by the London Book Fair and Nielsen BookData, the awards recognise one of the fastest growing parts of the book market. Entries are now open, and the closing date of the submission window will be Tuesday 3rd January 2023. Shortlists will be announced in March, and the Selfies Book Award winners will be unveiled at the London Book Fair Author HQ next April.

Originally launched in the UK in 2018, this initiative uncovers fantastic talent and rewards the very best self-published authors each year. The inaugural Selfies Book Award 2019 was presented to Jane Davis for her adult novel Smash all the Windows. In 2020, the winner of the adult category was Clare Flynn with her historical love story The Pearl of Penang, while Jemma Hatt took home the inaugural children's prize for her middle-grade escapade The Adventurers and the Cursed Castle. In 2021 a third category was added to make a trio of impressive winners: Halima Khatun's The Secret Diary of an Arranged Marriage (adult fiction), Kate Claxton's My Mum's a Tiger, illustrated by Angela Mayers (children's book) and Sophie Campbell's Breakfast at Bronzefield (memoir/autobiography).

Jo Henry, managing director of BookBrunch, said: "We were all so pleased with the quality of the submissions in 2022; the three winners were impressively well published as well as wonderfully readable and we can't wait to see what the 2023 awards will bring."

The winners in each category get £750 plus a profile in BookBrunch, banner advertising on the BookBrunch website and the option of a special publishing deal provided by sponsors IngramSpark. In addition, all shortlisted authors will receive free entry to the 2023 London Book Fair and membership of Author HQ club at the Fair. Comprising a theatre and networking area, Author HQ provides a forum for discussions on approaches to publishing and includes networking events and ‘how-to' style panels.

What the judges are looking for:

- A fantastic story that entertains and delights the reader
- A well-produced book
- An enticing cover and blurb that successfully addresses the target audience
- An effective and creative marketing and publicity strategy that has the potential for great sales

All titles submitted need to have been published in English between January and December 2022 and entries will only be accepted from authors based in the UK who are predominantly or only self-published, ie where the author themselves acts as the publisher/creative director.

In order to register, authors should go to www.bookbrunch.co.uk, click on the subscribe button and select the 6 month subscription box, using the code SELFIES2023. The fee of £35 will include a six-month subscription to BookBrunch (normal price £65).

Please see www.theselfies.co.uk for more details.

The sister Selfies Book Awards in the U.S. will be opening for submissions in Spring 2023. For more information, please see www.sefiesbookawards.com

 

The Moth Poetry Prize 2022

Information
Closing date: 
31 December 2022
Entry: 
Open to all poets over 16 for an unpublished poem. Entry fee €15 per poem
Prize: 
1st prize €6,000, plus three runner-up prizes of €1,000 and eight commended poets will each receive €250

The Moth Poetry Prize is one of the biggest prizes in the world for a single unpublished poem. The prize is open to anyone, as long as the poem is previously unpublished, and each year it attracts thousands of entries from new and established poets from over 50 countries worldwide.The prize is for an unpublished poem, and entrants (over 16) are welcome from anywhere in the world.

The four shortlisted poems will be published in the spring 2023 issue of The Moth and the overall winner will be announced at a special award ceremony at Poetry IrelandThe website of the Irish National Poetry Organisation, offering a resource centre, introductions and readings from new and emerging poets resident in Ireland. www.poetryireland.ie in the spring.

There is an entry fee of €15 per poem.

The shortlist will be announced in March 2023 and the four shortlisted poems will appear in the spring 2023 issue of The Moth. The overall winner of €6,000 will be announced at a special award ceremony at Poetry Ireland in Dublin in the spring of 2023.

This year's judge is Louise Gluck, winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize for Literature

Closing 31 December 2022.

More details

Daily Mail First Novel Competition 2022

Information
Closing date: 
1 November 2022
Entry: 
Open to anyone aged 16 or over who is a resident of the UK or Republic of Ireland and has not had a book published before No entry fee
Prize: 
A £20,000 advance and publishing contract with Little Brown's Sphere imprin and the services of top literary agency LBA

Today, the Mail and one of the world's biggest and most respected publishers launch a search for the UK's brightest literary talent. For the winner, the prize will be life-changing - their book will be published by Little, Brown's Sphere imprint. Our chosen author will also get a £20,000 advance and be taken on by top literary agency LBA.

By entering, your opening chapters and synopsis will be read by publishing professionals. If you win, an editor will help you shape and polish your first work of fiction, tackling plot problems, character development and scene setting.

Although entrants must be aged 18 or over, there's no upper age limit - after all, experience feeds imagination. Even if you don't scoop the first prize, it's possible your book may be chosen for publication anyway if the judges decide it has potential. This has been the case with several runners-up in the past.

Your entry must be written for an adult audience, can be in any genre except Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror and can be contemporary, historical, funny or tragic, dark or delightful, so long as it has an original voice, compelling characters and a driven plot.

The contest is for first-time authors who have not had any work of fiction published before.

It doesn't need to be complete - just send 3,000 words, plus a 600-word synopsis (including spoilers) to show where you plan to take your plot and characters.

See the website for the terms and conditions - but make sure you read the full set online and agree to them before entering.

Our judges are bestselling novelist Clare Mackintosh; Ed Wood, Sphere publishing director; Darcy Nicholson, Sphere editorial director; Luigi Bonomi, founder of the LBA agency; and Hannah Schofield, a leading agent at LBA. Completing the judges' line-up is Sandra Parsons, Daily Mail literary editor.

So what are you waiting for? Read on - and start writing!

More information

 

The National Poetry Competition 2022

Information
Closing date: 
31 October 2022
Entry: 
Open to anyone 18 or over from all over the world to enter an unpublished poem of up to 40 lines. Entry fee £7 for first entry, £5 for unlimited subsequent entries
Prize: 
First Prize: £5,000, Second Prize £2,000 and Third Prize £1,000, Commendations £200

The National Poetry CompetitionAnnual poetry prize run by the UK-based Poetry Society established in 1978; accepts entries from all over the world; over 10,000 poems submitted each year

The 2022 National Poetry Competition is one of the world's most prestigious prizes for an unpublished poem of up to 40 lines, open to anyone internationally who is 18 or over. It is judged anonymously and has been won by celebrated poets and by newcomers.

Ten Prizes

First Prize: £5000
Second Prize: £2000
Third Prize: £1000
Commendations: £200

Judges

Greta Stoddart, Jason Allen-Paisant and Michael Symmons Roberts

More details

The Bridport Prize 2022

Information
Closing date: 
30 September 2022
Entry: 
Eligibility please check on the individual category on their website for entry and fees for Poetry, Short Story, Novel, Memoir and Flash Fiction. Entry fees various, please check on their website
Prize: 
Various - please check on their website

The Bridport Prize has five sections: Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Novel Award and a new Memoir section.

Read the Rules carefully, as they have different prizes, rules, entry fees and closing dates.

The Memoir section closes on 30 September.

More details